Abstract
We present new SOFIA C
ii
and ALMA CO
J
=1→0
observations of the nearby asymmetric barred spiral galaxy NGC 7479. The data, which cover the whole bar of the galaxy and the counter-arms ...visible in the radio continuum, are analyzed in conjunction with a wealth of existing visible, infrared, radio, and X-ray data. As in most normal galaxies, the C
ii
emission is generally consistent with emission from cooling gas excited by photoelectric heating in photodissociation regions. However, anomalously high C
ii
/CO ratios are seen at the two ends of the counter-arms. Both ends show shell-like structures, possibly bubbles, in H
α
emission. In addition, the southern end has C
ii
-to-infrared emission ratios inconsistent with normal star formation. Because there is little H
i
emission at this location, the C
ii
emission probably originates in warm shocked molecular gas heated by the interaction of the radio jet forming the counter-arms with the interstellar medium in the galaxy. At two other locations, the high C
ii
/CO ratios provide evidence for the existence of patches of CO-dark molecular gas. The C
ii
and CO observations also reveal resolved velocity components along the bar. In particular, the CO emission can be separated into two components associated with gas along the leading edge of the bar and gas trailing the bar. The trailing gas component that amounts to approximately 40% of the gas around the bar region may be related to a minor merger.
ABSTRACT We present Herschel observations of 22 radio galaxies, selected for the presence of shocked, warm molecular hydrogen emission. We measured and modeled spectral energy distributions in 33 ...bands from the ultraviolet to the far-infrared to investigate the impact of jet feedback on star formation activity. These galaxies are massive, early-type galaxies with normal gas-to-dust ratios, covering a range of optical and infrared colors. We find that the star formation rate (SFR) is suppressed by a factor of ∼3-6, depending on how molecular gas mass is estimated. We suggest that this suppression is due to the shocks driven by the radio jets injecting turbulence into the interstellar medium (ISM), which also powers the luminous warm H2 line emission. Approximately 25% of the sample shows suppression by more than a factor of 10. However, the degree of SFR suppression does not correlate with indicators of jet feedback including jet power, diffuse X-ray emission, or intensity of warm molecular H2 emission, suggesting that while injected turbulence likely impacts star formation, the process is not purely parameterized by the amount of mechanical energy dissipated into the ISM. Radio galaxies with shocked warm molecular gas cover a wide range in SFR-stellar mass space, indicating that these galaxies are in a variety of evolutionary states, from actively star-forming and gas-rich to quiescent and gas-poor. SFR suppression appears to have the largest impact on the evolution of galaxies that are moderately gas-rich.
We present a catalog of the 1525 most optically luminous galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with r-band luminosity Lr > 8L* and redshift z < 0.3, including 84 super spirals, 15 super ...lenticulars, 14 super post-merger galaxies, and 1400 giant ellipticals. With mass in stars of 1011.3-1012M , super spirals and lenticulars are the most massive disk galaxies currently known. The specific star formation rates of super spirals place them on or below the star-forming main sequence. They must have formed stars at a high rate throughout their history in order to grow their massive, gigantic stellar disks and maintain their blue u − r integrated colors. Their disks are red on the inside and blue on the outside, consistent with inside-out growth. They tend to have small bulge-to-total (B/T) r-band luminosity ratios, characteristic of disk building via minor mergers and cold accretion. A large percentage of super disk galaxies (41%) have double nuclei, double disks, or other signatures of ongoing mergers. Most (72%) are found in moderate- to low-density environments, while the rest are found at the outskirts of clusters. It is likely that super spirals survive in these environments because they continue to accrete cold gas and experience only minor mergers at late times, by virtue of their enormous masses and angular momenta. We suggest that super post-mergers are the product of super spiral major mergers and may be the precursors of some giant elliptical galaxies found in low-density environments. We present two new gravitational lens candidates in an appendix.
Abstract
We describe a
Herschel Space Observatory
194–671
μ
m spectroscopic survey of a sample of 121 local luminous infrared galaxies and report the fluxes of the CO
J
to
J
–1 rotational transitions ...for
, the N
ii
205
μ
m line, the C
i
lines at 609 and 370
μ
m, as well as additional and usually fainter lines. The CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs) presented here are consistent with our earlier work, which was based on a smaller sample, that calls for two distinct molecular gas components in general: (i) a cold component, which emits CO lines primarily at
J
≲ 4 and likely represents the same gas phase traced by CO (1−0), and (ii) a warm component, which dominates over the mid-
J
regime (4 <
J
≲ 10) and is intimately related to current star formation. We present evidence that the CO line emission associated with an active galactic nucleus is significant only at
J
> 10. The flux ratios of the two C
i
lines imply modest excitation temperatures of 15–30 K; the C
i
370
μ
m line scales more linearly in flux with CO (4−3) than with CO (7−6). These findings suggest that the C
i
emission is predominantly associated with the gas component defined in (i) above. Our analysis of the stacked spectra in different far-infrared (FIR) color bins reveals an evolution of the SLED of the rotational transitions of
vapor as a function of the FIR color in a direction consistent with infrared photon pumping.
Super spirals are the most massive star-forming disk galaxies in the universe. We measured rotation curves for 23 massive spirals with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and found a wide ...range of fast rotation speeds (240-570 km s−1), indicating enclosed dynamical masses of (0.6−4) × 1012M . Super spirals with mass in stars log M stars M > 11.5 break from the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR) established for lower-mass galaxies. The BTFR power-law index breaks from 3.75 0.11 to 0.25 0.41 above a rotation speed of ∼340 km s−1. Super spirals also have very high specific angular momenta that break from the Fall relation. These results indicate that super spirals are undermassive for their dark matter halos, limited to a mass in stars of log M stars M < 11.8 . Most giant elliptical galaxies also obey this fundamental limit, which corresponds to a critical dark halo mass of log M halo M 12.7 . Once a halo reaches this mass, its gas can no longer cool and collapse in a dynamical time. Super spirals survive today in halos as massive as log M halo M 13.6 , continuing to form stars from the cold baryons they captured before their halos reached critical mass. The observed high-mass break in the BTFR is inconsistent with the Modified Newtonian Dynamics theory.
ABSTRACT There are many mechanisms by which galaxies can transform from blue, star-forming spirals, to red, quiescent early-type galaxies, but our current census of them does not form a complete ...picture. Recent observations of nearby case studies have identified a population of galaxies that quench "quietly." Traditional poststarburst searches seem to catch galaxies only after they have quenched and transformed, and thus miss any objects with additional ionization mechanisms exciting the remaining gas. The Shocked POststarburst Galaxy Survey (SPOGS) aims to identify transforming galaxies, in which the nebular lines are excited via shocks instead of through star formation processes. Utilizing the Oh-Sarzi-Schawinski-Yi (OSSY) measurements on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 catalog, we applied Balmer absorption and shock boundary criteria to identify 1067 SPOG candidates (SPOGs*) within z = 0.2. SPOGs* represent 0.2% of the OSSY sample galaxies that exceed the continuum signal-to-noise cut (and 0.7% of the emission line galaxy sample). SPOGs* colors suggest that they are in an earlier phase of transition than OSSY galaxies that meet an "E+A" selection. SPOGs* have a 13% 1.4 GHz detection rate from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters Survey, higher than most other subsamples, and comparable only to low-ionization nuclear emission line region hosts, suggestive of the presence of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). SPOGs* also have stronger Na i D absorption than predicted from the stellar population, suggestive of cool gas being driven out in galactic winds. It appears that SPOGs* represent an earlier phase in galaxy transformation than traditionally selected poststarburst galaxies, and that a large proportion of SPOGs* also have properties consistent with disruption of their interstellar media, a key component to galaxy transformation. It is likely that many of the known pathways to transformation undergo a SPOG phase. Studying this sample of SPOGs* further, including their morphologies, AGN properties, and environments, has the potential for us to build a more complete picture of the initial conditions that can lead to a galaxy evolving.
SUPPRESSION OF STAR FORMATION IN NGC 1266 Alatalo, Katherine; Lacy, Mark; Lanz, Lauranne ...
The Astrophysical journal,
01/2015, Letnik:
798, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
NGC1266 is a nearby lenticular galaxy that harbors a massive outflow of molecular gas powered by the mechanical energy of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). It has been speculated that such outflows ...hinder star formation (SF) in their host galaxies, providing a form of feedback to the process of galaxy formation. Previous studies, however, indicated that only jets from extremely rare, high-power quasars or radio galaxies could impart significant feedback on their hosts. Here we present detailed observations of the gas and dust continuum of NGC1266 at millimeter wavelengths. The AGN-driven bulk outflow could account for this extreme suppression by hindering the fragmentation and gravitational collapse necessary to form stars through a process of turbulent injection. The result suggests that even relatively common, low-power AGNs are able to alter the evolution of their host galaxies as their black holes grow onto the M-sigma relation.
Abstract Spitzer spectral maps reveal a disk of highly luminous, warm (>150 K) H 2 in the center of the massive spiral galaxy Messier 58, which hosts a radio-loud active galactic nucleus (AGN). The ...inner 2.6 kpc of the galaxy appears to be overrun by shocks from the radio jet cocoon. Gemini NIRI imaging of the H 2 1–0 S(1) emission line, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO 2–1, and Hubble Space Telescope multiband imagery indicate that much of the molecular gas is shocked in situ, corresponding to lanes of dusty molecular gas that spiral toward the galactic nucleus. The CO 2–1 and ionized gas kinematics are highly disturbed, with velocity dispersion up to 300 km s −1 . Dissipation of the associated kinetic energy and turbulence, likely injected into the interstellar medium by radio-jet-driven outflows, may power the observed molecular and ionized gas emission from the inner disk. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fraction and composition in the inner disk appear to be normal, in spite of the jet and AGN activity. The PAH ratios are consistent with excitation by the interstellar radiation field from old stars in the bulge, with no contribution from star formation. The phenomenon of jet-shocked H 2 may substantially reduce star formation and help to regulate the stellar mass of the inner disk and supermassive black hole in this otherwise normal spiral galaxy. Similarly strong H 2 emission is found at the centers of several nearby spiral and lenticular galaxies with massive bulges and radio-loud AGNs.
ABSTRACT
We present new and archival atomic hydrogen (H i) observations of 15 of the most massive spiral galaxies in the local Universe (${M_{\star }}\gt 10^{11} \, {\rm M}_\odot$). From 3D kinematic ...modeling of the datacubes, we derive extended H i rotation curves, and from these, we estimate masses of the dark matter halos and specific angular momenta of the discs. We confirm that massive spiral galaxies lie at the upper ends of the Tully–Fisher relation (mass vs velocity, M ∝ V4) and Fall relation (specific angular momentum vs mass, j ∝ M0.6), in both stellar and baryonic forms, with no significant deviations from single power laws. We study the connections between baryons and dark matter through the stellar (and baryon)-to-halo ratios of mass fM ≡ M⋆/Mh and specific angular momentum fj, ⋆ ≡ j⋆/jh and fj, bar ≡ jbar/jh. Combining our sample with others from the literature for less massive disc-dominated galaxies, we find that fM rises monotonically with M⋆ and Mh (instead of the inverted-U shaped fM for spheroid-dominated galaxies), while fj, ⋆ and fj, bar are essentially constant near unity over four decades in mass. Our results indicate that disc galaxies constitute a self-similar population of objects closely linked to the self-similarity of their dark halos. This picture is reminiscent of early analytical models of galaxy formation wherein discs grow by relatively smooth and gradual inflow, isolated from disruptive events such as major mergers and strong active galactic nuclei feedback, in contrast to the more chaotic growth of spheroids.
ABSTRACT We present CO(1-0) observations of objects within the Shocked POststarburst Galaxy Survey taken with the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique 30 m single dish and the Combined Array for ...Research for Millimeter Astronomy interferometer. Shocked poststarburst galaxies (SPOGs) represent a transitioning population of galaxies, with deep Balmer absorption , consistent with an intermediate-age (A-star) stellar population, and ionized gas line ratios inconsistent with pure star formation. The CO(1-0) subsample was selected from SPOGs detected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with 22 m flux detected at a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) > 3. Of the 52 objects observed in CO(1-0), 47 are detected with S/N > 3. A large fraction (37%-46% 7%) of our CO-SPOG sample were visually classified as morphologically disrupted. The H2 masses detected were between , consistent with the gas masses found in normal galaxies, though approximately an order of magnitude larger than the range seen in poststarburst galaxies. When comparing the 22 m and CO(1-0) fluxes, SPOGs diverge from the normal star-forming relation, having 22 m fluxes in excess of the relation by a factor of , suggestive of the presence of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The Na i D characteristics of CO-SPOGs show that it is likely that many of these objects host interstellar winds. Objects with large Na i D enhancements also tend to emit in the radio, suggesting possible AGN driving of neutral winds.